This invention relates to validation of replicated data.
Data replication systems can provide highly-reliable data backup by continuously monitoring changes made to application data at one computer and applying those changes to a copy of the application data, which can be referred to as a “replica” of the application data. Typically, the copy of the application data is physically remote from the primary copy of the data, and is hosted on a separate computer system. In some approaches, replicas of entire file systems are maintained, while in other approaches only particular application-specific files are replicated.
In order to ensure that the replicated data would be suitable as a backup copy should the primary data be corrupted or otherwise become unavailable, data validation procedures can be performed on the data replica. One way to do this is to suspend the replication procedure while such validation is performed. For example, in the case of a database application, replication of the tables can be suspended and the validity of data tables in the application data can be verified. In some situations, such validation is mandated to be performed on a regular schedule, such as once a day. Performing certain types of validation procedures may result in modification of the data. Therefore, after the validation procedure is completed, the data replica is fully re-synchronized with the primary data, which in general will have changed while the validation procedure was performed, before continuous replication is restarted.